Carlton coach Michael Voss didn't mince his words when he starkly said "absolutely" to a question quizzing whether his men's spirit is still strong.
The Blues suffered another second-half fadeout to North Melbourne on Good Friday, with immense pressure and scrutiny hitting fever pitch regarding Voss' future.
"Again I don't pay any attention to it. You've been here the last three weeks and you've asked the same question every single week. So at some point in time you've just got to get on with the task at hand and what's what we're doing," he said in response to the external noise.
Part of that external noises reached the outside walls of cafe, 7 Grams, in Richmond.
Carlton GM of Football Chris Davies confirmed that Voss would travel to Adelaide to face the Crows this week in Gather Round, but left a lot to the imagination for the remainder of the year.
Voss remained pragmatic about the situation.
"We're not winning, so you obviously expect some level of scrutiny,” he said.
"You appreciate that's what's going to happen every single week when you come off a game you should win and don't end up finishing the job.
"But also what you have to do is continue to look at what's real and what's not real, some of that you have to factor in – you can't ignore it.
"At the same time, when you're committed to what's important to you, you tend to give that more voice.
"That's the challenge for us: how do you give voice to what's happening inside, celebrate people but also still have the high standards and accountability that's needed.
"We've got to understand there's going to be continued dialogue and analysis that always happens around teams, it certainly happens here.
"But within all that, how do you still as a performer lock in on what you need to do and put all that aside for a couple hours a week and look at your teammate besides you and stand up for them.
"If anything, there's an opportunity in that and we've got to take that opportunity."
Voss remained hopeful that his side can turn their fortunes around, saying that behind-the-goal vision is painting a very different picture to the scoreboard.
However, he acknowledged that his men needed to perform for the 120 minutes, and nothing less, or fear another demoralising loss which has plagued the club for the past 18 months.
"The key part is doing it when it's getting tougher and how do we still execute when we need to through those critical times," Voss added.
"But, like I said, we're not walking away with four points so you've got 80 percent of your work that you're happy with but there's 20 percent clearly letting us down."
The Blues will open Gather Round on Thursday against Adelaide with a 1-3 record.
